According to a recent article from University of California Riverside (UCR) Today, researchers have found a new drought-protecting chemical that shows high potential for becoming a valuable asset in fighting against today’s often extreme weather conditions.

The chemical, “quinabactin,” named by a research team at UCR led by plant cell biologist Sean Cutler, mimics a naturally occurring stress hormone in plants that helps better handle drought conditions. The article explains plants have water sensing and drought response systems that are tuned based on their environment. Plants with more water at their disposal will use water at a higher rate and grow quickly as opposed to those that grow slower and use less water in more saturated locations.